reviews and more about historical fiction and history-related non-fiction for children and teens

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Book Review: Knit Your Bit: A World War I Story, by Deborah Hopkinson (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2013)

I am delighted to welcome award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson to my blog today, to discuss her newest historical fiction picture book, Knit Your Bit: A World War I Story.

Q: How were
you inspired to write a story about this little piece of history--the Knit Your
Bit campaign for soldiers during WWI?

A: I am fascinated
by stories of ordinary people in history, and also intrigued by historical
photographs. Years ago I worked at the
American Red Cross in Honolulu and learned about the home front efforts to knit
for soldiers. That drew me to learn more about the social history of knitting
in America and the result is Knit Your
Bit!

Q: Are you a knitter yourself?
Or perhaps a family member? If so, did that play a role in your inspiration for
this story?

A: I actually do
love to knit and I love yarn stores. But
there is a big caveat to this – I am, quite honestly, not very good. I knit for relaxation only and I’m a bit like
Mikey in the book – I keep dropping
stitches! So I am content to knit
scarves for myself – or for friends who can’t knit at all and so are a bit more
forgiving of mistakes. I have a number
of friends who are wonderfully accomplished knitters and the book is dedicated
to them.

Q: Knit Your Bit tells the story
of those at the home front during war. Do you hope that this book will be read
by those children with moms and dads in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere? Will
you be doing any special outreach to military families?

Q: I loved the illustrations by Steven Guarnaccia, which
gave the story a real period feel. In fact, the illustrations reminded me of
the TinTin comics. Can you comment about how the illustrations contribute to
your text?

A: I absolutely
agree! I love how Steven’s artwork
complements the wonderful graphic style of the period. The Red Cross posters of the time were part
of what drew me to the story, so when you add the historical photos on the
endpapers along with the art and the poster in the note, it all seems to come
together to give young readers both a sense that this did happen in a different
time, but that some things remain the same.

Q: Please give us a brief
preview of your upcoming book, The Great Trouble. And can you share with us
some of the projects you have coming up?

A: The Great Trouble, A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and
a Boy Called Eel, is
middle grade historical fiction about the 1854 cholera epidemic in London. I tried to give the story a Dickensian feel,
while at the same time celebrate the pioneering public health work of Dr. John
Snow, who was born 200 years ago, in 1813.
I think kids will enjoy it. I am
also working on projects about Beatrix Potter and World War II.

To find out
more about my books I hope readers will visit me on the web at: www.deborahhopkinson.com or look at my Pinterest boards at:

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About Me/Contact Me

I am currently working as a children's librarian in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. For more on my background, click on my photo to go to my About Me page. You can reach me by commenting on this blog or by e-mail at margo_tanenbaum@yahoo.com. If you would like to send me a galley, please contact me for my mailing address.

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Review policy

Some of the books reviewed were received as advance review copies from Amazon Vine or directly from the publisher. Others may have been purchased or checked out from the library. I am willing to receive copies of appropriate books from publishers for review on this blog. Please contact me for further information.